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President ACCs last hope

SHAKHAWAT LlTON
The president is considered as a titular head of state in parliamentary' form of government. People do not usually expect the president to do something for them and the nation.
But in an extraordinary' situation, especially when the government arbitrarily moves against the public sentiment to enact a new law, people may seek the president's intervention.
Such a situation has popped up with the introduction of a controversial provision that pushes the Anti-Corruption Commission to take government nod before filing cases against public officials.
To introduce the provision, the government used parliament like a rubber stamp to pass a bill on Sunday' amending the ACC Act, 2004 by ignoring public outcry' and concerns from FROM PAGE 1
development partners.
The bill might be presented to President Abdul Hamid anytime next week and upon his assent would become a law.
The president might do something to honour the public sentiment against die controversial provision, if he wants. When the bill would be placed before him, he can return it to parliament with a message requesting that the new provision be reconsidered.
Article 80 (3) of the constitution provides the president with this significant power to exercise within 15 days since a bill is placed before him. It is his discretion whether he would exercise this power or not. He requires no advice of the prime minister to do so.
If the president exercises this authority, parliament would consider the bill together with his message. If the bill is again passed by parliament with or without this controversial amendment, it will again be presented to the president for his assent.
This time, the president is likely to give his assent to the bill within seven days. If he does not, he would be deemed to have assented to the bill on expity of seven days.
So, the president appears to be the last resort to salvage the ACC from becoming toothless after losing its independence to file graft cases against government officials.
If the government refuses to act as per the president's suggestion in case he returns the bill, it would by no means undermine his office. It would rather brighten the image of his office and his effort would keep alive the hope for a strong anti-graft watchdog.
The office of the president, of course, knows
the public sentiment against the controversial provision. Passage of the bill has already triggered a huge outcry. The ACC and several legal experts have termed it unconstitutional and asked the government to scrap it. Donor agencies and the country's development partners have also expressed their concerns.
The responses to the provision are justified. The fight against corruption is likely to fall flat if the government officials, who are involved in implementing the annual national budget of more than Tk 2 lakh crore, are given special protection from graft charges. This would definitely add to the pervasive culture of corruption in the public administration to go with impunity.
This, of course, is an extraordinaty situation that demands intervention of the president. It now depends on him whether he would exercise his constitutional authority or not. He is to decide whether he would follow the path of his predecessors without enquiring into the reality or do something different.
Since the restoration of parliamentary democracy' in 1991, only the then president Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed once used this constitutional authority during the past Awami League rule 11996-22011. But the House did not consider his message and refrained from passing the bill again.
Non-exercise of this power makes the apparently established impression even stronger that the president has nothing to do for the nation even in any extraordinaty situation.
If s up to President Abdul Hamid now if he would open a new era in die history of parliamentary democracy by exercising his constitutional power at an appropriate time.